Cranberry orange clafoutis

We don't fuss too much over Valentine's Day.  Rather, I should say that I don't fuss too much over V-Day.  I'm a minimal kind of gal when it comes to most holidays.  Tara, on the other hand, is sort of a holiday maniac.  (It has taken us years to find a happy medium.  Compromise is the key to a healthy and long-term relationship folks.) 

Anyway, because of my holiday mentality,  I usually suck at gift-giving, particularly with romantical events.   So, I tend to fall back on the tried-and-true fancied-up homemade dinner and dessert to make it more gift-appropriate.  Dinner was an easy choice of Penne a la Vodka, which is Tara's favorite meal that I make.  For dessert, I had originally thought about doing something strawberry (you know, because it was V-Day), but as soon as I saw the recipe for Cranberry Orange Clafoutis over at BowlLicking, I knew I had to make it. 

I'm so happy that I went with this dessert. Cranberry-orange is one of Tara's favorite flavor combos.  Plus, the preparation was simple and quick (prep was 5 minutes, tops), but it looked elegant in a rustic sort of way.

So often, it's hard to find a high-impact dessert that's easy to make for two.  Inevitably, there's always one ingredient that refuses to be broken down further (I'm talking to you, "one large egg".) or there's an odd fraction of an ingredient (1/8 cup plus 1 tablespoon plus 1/2 teaspoon plus 1/8 teaspoon?).  This recipe, however, was pretty reasonable; it was easily halved (or scaled up) and, if you're using an egg replacer, you could break it down even more.

Despite the heavy cream, egg, and sugar, the dish was rather light.  I'd call it a mix of a souffle and a custard (like creme brulee).  Don't skimp on the butter and sugar coating on the dish; it adds a nice caramelized crunch to the edge.

This recipe is extremely flexible, based on the multiple variations I saw when I did a super-quick Google search.  Check below the recipe for gluten-free and dairy-free variations.

Cranberry Orange Clafoutis
Barely adapted from BowlLicking, who adapted it from Martha Stewart

Yield: 4 small servings

Ingredients

• 1/4 tablespoon unsalted butter (or nondairy alternative), melted, for ramekins
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon+ granulated sugar, divided
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or gluten free alternative)
• heaping 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt
• Pinch ground ginger (optional)
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (3/8 cup) heavy cream (or non-dairy cream alternative)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (3/8 cup) whole milk (or non-dairy alternative)
• 1/4 teaspoon orange oil (or 1/2 teaspoon orange extract or 1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest)
• 3/4 cup fresh or thawed frozen cranberries
• Powdered sugar, to dust

Directions

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Brush melted butter all over the bottom and sides of 4 small ramekins; sprinkle 1 tablespoon (or more as needed) sugar all over.

Whisk together 1/4 cup sugar, flour, salt, and ground ginger (if using) in a medium mixing bowl. Whisk together egg, cream, milk and oil (or extract or zest) in a small mixing bowl. In two additions, whisk the wet mixture into the dry mixture.

Pour the batter into the prepared ramekins. Scatter cranberries evenly on top. Bake on top of a baking sheet (to catch any overflow) for 15-20 minutes, until puffed, barely set in the center, and light brown around the edges. Allow to cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes or so. As you can tell from the pictures above, the mixture will rise pretty high while cooking and then fall while cooling.

Dust with powdered sugar. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Recipe Options

Gluten-free:  Use an appropriate flour substitute such as pre-made GF flour or a nut flour.

Dairy-free:   Use whatever non-dairy milk you prefer to replace the milk.  To keep with the richness in this particular recipe, I would substitute the cream with the separated coconut milk from the can (the white-stuff on top after it separates).  Finally, you can use a non-flavored oil or non-dairy, soy-free butter substitute in place of the butter to coat the ramekins (like this Organic Coconut Spread that I talked about in my last post on Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins).

Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins

It's been a little while since I've posted over here. But what's over a year break to you and I? We're just (hopefully) gonna pick right up and keep going like nothing ever happened.



I will, however, give y'all a brief update on how things have been with us. I recently started another blog. It's a dessert blog with a focus on ice cream. Go check it out over at Scoops of Sunshine.  Tara has been focusing on her jewelry business, Flipside Creations, and has recently started a part time job as a tour guide down in Miami.  Tara has wanted to be a tour guide for ever and it totally suits her.  Unfortunately, she has to be in the sun for over 9 hours a day and she only gets quick snack breaks throughout the day, so she has been having some problems with her AIP.

We've been a little lax about our food choices and eating right, especially for Tara and her Porphyria.  For example, Tara has been eating things like Pop Tarts, chips, and cookies for her snacks for work.  She rarely eats a "real" breakfast, choosing to normally drink a glass of rice milk and maybe grab a banana for the road.  So, I've taken it upon myself to start making better treats for her.

These cranberry pumpkin muffins are perfect snacks because they're portable, quick to eat, and don't need refrigeration. 

Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins
Adapted from Cooking Light Annual Recipes 1997

Makes about 16 muffins

I made a few changes to the original recipe, mostly based on what I had on hand, but also personal preference.  See the notes below for my verdict and possible substitutions.

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 3 large eggs, room temperature
• 1/3 cup orange juice, fresh-squeezed if possible
• 1/4 cup butter, melted
• 1 cup chopped (halved or quartered) cranberries (dried is OK, just make sure they're sulfur free)
• butter or oil to grease the pan
• Optional topping: 2 tablespoons chopped pecans or pepitas (pumpkin seeds)
• Other optional ingredients: ground ginger, crystallized ginger, orange zest or extract/oil

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease muffin cups or line with liners.

Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl.  Make a well in the center.  Set aside.

In a small bowl, whisk together the pumpkin, eggs, OJ, and butter.  Add the orange zest or extract/oil, if using.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir a few times, until most of the powder is mixed.  (Don't worry, we'll get it all in there.)  Fold in your cranberries and crystallized ginger, if using. 

Spoon batter into muffin cups.  Fill to the top for nice, domed muffins.  Sprinkle with chopped nuts or seeds, if using.  Bake for about 20 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center of a few muffins comes out clean.  Make sure to check about halfway through to see if you need to rotate the pan(s) around.  Cool in pan for 5-10 minutes.  Remove from pan and let cool completely on a wire rack.

Verdict and notes

I liked the bread well enough, but I would definitely make some changes if I were to make it again.  The flavor was a little flat and I think some ginger would improve the taste dramatically.  Also, I bet throwing in some crystallized ginger would be awesome.  I'm not normally a fan, but it would amp up the complexity a bit.  Finally, I think a little (not too much) orange extract or oil would have been good.  If you're squeezing the orange juice from an orange, zest the orange and throw zest in the batter with the liquids.

As for substitutions, quick breads are usually very forgiving, so don't fear:
(1) Feel free to use any squash or sweet potatoes in place of the pumpkin.
(2) We use whole eggs in the house, but the original recipe used an egg substitute.  Also, I bet egg whites would work, too.  1 egg equals 1/4 cup of substitute. 
(3) I'm a firm believer in butter is better, but I think coconut oil would have been really tasty.  Also, Earth Balance makes an Organic Coconut Spread (flash site) that is vegan and is soy free.  It does, however, have canola oil in it.  The coconut flavor is mild and only initially noticeable.

Compost cookies

You may have noticed that I haven't posted so frequently on The Culinary Vampire lately.  I haven't abandoned it nor have I lost interest. If anything, I think about it almost daily.  However, recently, I've been wrestling with the direction and focus of the blog.  I love posting recipes and all, but sometimes I'd like to share some of our personal stories and struggles.  Tara's AIP is such a focus in our daily lives and I want to share some of that with y'all. It's nice to know that other people are in the same boat as you, you know what I mean?

All that to say, while the blog will still be food-based, there will be a shift in focus and you can expect to see posts on topics like:

• preparing meals for a mixed (AIP and non-AIP) household
• eating right for AIP and exercising
• losing weight with AIP (we know what a struggle that can be...)
• more onion free and garlic free recipes
• recipe fails (Hey, nobody's perfect and maybe you can learn from my mistakes!)
• aaaand, delicious recipes, of course!

I hope you'll continue to read AND participate!  If there is anything you'd like to see on The Culinary Vampire, speak up! I am always open to suggestions.

On to today's recipe...

This cookie is unfortunately named the Compost cookie.  But it sounds a lot grosser than it actually is, especially when you realize that it comes from the pastry chef at Momofuku.  Essentially, you're throwing in a whole mish-mash of sweet and salty food stuffs like pretzels, chips, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate chips and dried used coffee grounds (maybe that's where the name comes from?).

The sum is definitely greater than it's parts.

It's hard to see the scale in this picture, but they're about 2.5 inches in diameter, at least.

Normally, I am very opinionated about my cookies.  I like them to be quite simple and not have too many ingredients, i.e. chocolate chip, oatmeal raisin (sans offending chocolate chips), peanut butter, etc.  But, I've seen these cookies around the food blogosphere and they're always described as Amazing and DeeeliciousMind-blowing and - well, you get the idea.  Since I can't get up to Milk Bar just yet, I decided I had to make them at home.

I even saved the ends of my pretzel bags (who wants to eat those crumbs anyway) so I could use them for these cookies.

Christina Tosi's Momofuku Milk Bar Compost Cookies
Adapted from rainy day gal, who adapted it from Live with Regis and Kelly

Yield: 15 6oz cookies

I changed the ingredients based on what I had on hand.  Specifically, I left out the dried coffee grounds and butterscotch chips and I added Cocoa Pebbles (what?) and chocolate chunks with the chocolate chips (Enjoy Life is soy-free); also, instead of potato chips, I used tortilla chips. I actually had some graham cracker crumbs, but you could also crumble up some graham crackers in the food processor (soy-free versions are Back to Nature Honey Graham Sticks and Annie's Homemade Cinnamon Bunny Grahams).  Finally, if you're corn syrup averse or don't want to go buy a an entire container for just 1 tablespoon, you could leave that out or substitue honey (not sure how that would work, though). 

A stand mixer is definitely recommended for this recipe.  I'm sure you could use a hand mixer, but make sure it's strong enough to handle the mixing required.  I would NOT recommend making this by hand!

Ingredients

• 1 cup Butter
• 1 cup Sugar
• 3/4 cup Light Brown Sugar
• 1 Tbsp Corn Syrup (I used light)
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 2 Large Eggs
• 1 3/4 cups AP Flour
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1 tsp Baking Soda
• 2 tsp Kosher Salt
• 1 1/2 cups chocolate chips mixed with Cocoa Pebbles or butterscotch chips
• 1 1/2 cups crushed potato chips and pretzel crisps
• 1/2 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 2 tablespoons dried used coffee grounds
• 1/2 cup oats

Directions

In a stand mixer with the paddle attachment, cream butter, sugars, coffee grounds, and corn syrup on medium high for 2-3 minutes until fluffy and pale yellow in color. Scrape down the sides of the bowl.

On a lower speed, add eggs and vanilla to incorporate. Increase mixing speed to medium-high and start a timer for 10 minutes. During this time the sugar granules will fully dissolve, the mixture will become an almost pale white color and your creamed mixture will double in size. 

When time is up, on a lower speed, add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix 45-60 sec just until your dough comes together and all remnants of dry ingredients have incorporated.  Be careful not to over mix the dough. Scrape down the sides of the bowl again.

On same low speed, add in the chocolate chip mixture (butterscotch chips and/or cereal, too), graham cracker crumbs, and oats and mix for 30-45 sec until they evenly mix into the dough. Add in the chips and pretzels last, mixing on low speed again until they are just incorporated.

Using a 6oz ice cream scoop, portion cookie dough onto a parchment lined cookie sheet. (I don't have a 6oz ice cream or cookie scoop, so I just winged it by looking at rainy day gal's and Amateur Gourmet's pictures.) 

Wrap scooped cookie dough tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour or up to 1 week.  Do NOT BAKE your cookies from room temperature or they will not hold their shape.

Heat your oven to 400F.  Just before the oven is ready, arrange your chilled cookie dough balls on a parchment-lined cookie sheet a minimum of 4″ apart in any direction. (Trust me on this, they spread.)  Bake 9-11 min. While in the oven, the cookies will puff, crackle and spread.  At 9 min the cookies should be browned on the edges and just beginning to brown towards the center.  Leave the cookies in the oven for the additional minutes if these colors don’t match up and your cookies stills seem pale and doughy on the surface.
Cool the cookies completely on the sheet pan.  Transferring to an airtight container and store.  At room temp, cookies will keep fresh 5 days. In the freezer, cookies will keep fresh 1 month.

Verdict and notes:

Tara and the rest of the softball team loved these.  I was just OK with them.  I wouldn't go through the trouble making them for personal consumption as I felt they were only marginally better than a good chocolate chip cookie.  I did, however, like the salty-sweet combo, so I might consider adding some chips or pretzels to my next batch of chocolate chip cookies.
 

Cranberry sorbet

I made this cranberry sorbet as part of my annual ice cream birthday party.  I've done it for a few years now and I always like to use different recipes for the social.  After I had all my ice cream recipes gathered (oreo cheesecake, lemon curd, Irish Car Bomb with Guinness ice cream and a Bailey's Irish Creme swirl, honey vanilla coconut, basil, dulce de leche, and sweet cream), I realized that all the flavors were heavy and cream-based and there wasn't anything light and fruity.  After a quick search, I settled on the season-appropriate cranberry sorbet. 

I've made sorbet before and it froze rock-hard, even with alcohol. For this cranberry sorbet, I waited to churn it until shortly before the party.  I needn't have worried, though. I've had it in my freezer for 2 weeks now, there is nary an icy chunk to be found, and it's still as good as when I first made it. We can thank the Grand Marnier for that; there's just enough to keep it soft and enhance, without overwhelming, the cranberry.

This sorbet exceeded my expectations! It was tart and sweet and it was fairly creamy (as far as sorbets go). One of my guests had the brilliant idea of pairing it with the lemon curd ice cream and it was super yummy!

Cranberry season may be winding down, but there is still plenty of time to make this sorbet, so hop to it!

Cranberry Sorbet
Barely adapted from UseRealButter who, in turn, adapted it from David Lebovitz.

The liqueur is optional, but highly recommended.  The flavors really work together but, more importantly, it keeps the sorbet scoopable directly from the freezer.  If you nix the liqueur, you'll need to let the sorbet stand at room temperature for about 10 minutes before scooping.  Also, if you don't have any Grand Marnier, I bet you could substitute vodka, but go easy on it. 

Makes about 1 quart.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cranberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 cup water
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 1/2 cups cranberry-raspberry juice
• 2-3 teaspoons Grand Marnier (optional)

Directions

Heat cranberries, water, and sugar in a medium saucepan until liquid begins to boil. Let boil for 1 minute then remove from heat and cover. Let stand for about 30 minutes. Purée the cranberries and their liquid in a blender or food processor then press through a sieve to remove the cranberry skins and seeds. (conversely, you could use a food mill fitted with a fine disk). Stir in the juice and the liqueur. Chill the mixture thoroughly, then freeze it in your ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Wordless Wednesday: Unfortunate result of my cooking and baking habits